Soldier

Innocence lost

Alia prayed at the temple, hoping that god would hear her plea.

"Oh, God," she cried silently, listening to the scary soldiers bang on the door, "Please save me... The men are scary. They have machine guns, and they say Sikh muslims are old and a threat to the Muslim people. They say I am the future, and they took mama and baba away to the camps. Please don't let them find me!"

They kicked open the door, and the men ran in just as she hides under the pew.
"Find who ever is in here and kill them! The glorious leader commands it!" A man with a red hat says, cocking his machine gun.

Alia had to keep herself from crying.
She didn't want to die!

She crawled her way to the door, hoping they wouldn't notice her.
"Hey, you! Little girl!" A soldier yells, grabbing her by the hair. She let out a scream, biting the soldier's hand. He let go, and, by pure accident, she pulled the pin on the little green thing. The solder panics and tries to get it off of him, but it blew up and killed him, sending his body parts everywhere and splattering Alia with gore and gristle.

Alia screamed, and the rest of the soldiers looked at her.
"Stop that infidel child!" The red-hat man said, firing his machine gun at her.
She screamed again, somehow dodging the bullets that came her way as she ran out into the streets, just as a sand storm made its way across the horizon.

The soldiers gave chase, byt , being smaller and more maneuverable, she was able to hide in an abandoned building. She cried silently, seeing the flashlights come alive and search for her.

She didn't want to die...
Not like big brother...
Or big sister...
Or mama or baba...

A boy pokes his head out of the rubble, covering her mouth before she could scream.
"Come with me." He says, looking over the wall and checking to see if the soldiers had seen him.
Thankfully, the sand storm had just got to them, so they had the element of surprise.

The boy pulls out a small automatic rifle and speaks into the hand radio he had.
"I have another one. I'm bringing her in."

Alia was terrified. The boy had seemed so nice until he pulled out the machine gun.
Could she trust this boy?

He got to her level.
"Come on, we're going to the good guys. You're going to be free soon. What is your name?"
She sniffles and cuddles into his arms.
"My name is Alia Gufrian, daughter if Hamed Gufrian. H-he was taken from me because he hurt some of the soldiers..." She says quietly as the boy lowers them into a hole, which he covered up with a piece of plywood.

He smiled and patted her head.
"I'm Mark Goldman. I'm a Jew, and I'll be your friend until we get you away from here, OK?" He says, putting her on his back as he looked around.
She nodded and sniffles, coughing a little.
"O-ok..."
She clings to his back as he runs down the giant, ancient corridor towards freedom.